Hinge support



G. W. ALDEEN HINGESUPFORT Filed y 1929 Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITEDSTATES PATE NT 1 OFFICE GEDOR W. ALDEEN, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR'IO AMERICAN CAB INET HARDWARE CORPORATION, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS HINGE SUPPORT Application filed. J'uly 5, 1929.Serial No. 376,12O.

This invention relates generally to a hinge support for furniture or thelike and more particularly to a means for hinging fallboards ordrop-covers of cabinets, desks,

5 radio cabinets, or the like, which are hinged about an axis lyingalong the upper front edge of the floor of the cabinet. p

The object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedhingesupport for the fall,- board ofa cabinet in which the fall-boardpivotsabout an axis lying along the upper front edge'of the floor of thecabinet, said hinge support comprising members which are ada ted to bemounted on the inner surface of t e side wall of the cabinet and uponthe upper surface of the fall-board without necessitating the cutting ofany mortise.

Another object of the, invention is to provide such a'hinge support, theparts of which may be made of sheet metal ajndhence are simple andinexpensive to manufacture. In pursuance of the above, I aim to pro;-vide a hinge support for thefall-board of a cabinet comprising a memberadapted to be mountedon the innersur'face of the side wall of thecabinet and having a vertical slot cut therein, a second ,member adaptedto be mounted. on the fall-board and providing an upwardly extending lugat each end carrya ing a pin, a link having a pin on. its upper endsliding in the slot in the first member and having its lower endpivotally connected to the pin at the inner end of the second member, asecond link having one end pivotally connected to the lower end of thefirst member and extending outwardly along the fallboard and having alongitudinal slot adjacent its outer end inwhich the pin at the outerend of. the second member slides, and means pivotally connecting the twolinks together near the lower end'of the first link the inner end of thesecond link.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be understood from thefollowing detailed description thereof, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, inwhich: f

Figure 1 isa section. through a cabinet showing the preferred form of myinvention and in side elevation with the fall-board-in its openposition. I

Fig. 2 is a fragmental plan view with the cabinet cover removed and thefall-board in open position. I

Fig. 3 is a section similar to that shown in F ig. 1 except that thefall-board is closed.

While the invention is susceptible of. various modifications andalternative construe: tions, Ihave shown in thedrawings and will hereindescribe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to beunderstoodthat I do. not thereby intend tolimit the invention to the specific formdisclosed, but intend to cover all modifications and alternativeconstructions falling within the spiritand scope of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims. v In the drawings, a cabinet or deskis shown for which this hinge support is suitable. The cabinet comprisesa side wall 10, a floor 11, and a closure or a fall-board 12. The floor11- and fall-board 12 have corresponding hinge support is illustrated,the other one being exactly similar but left-handed.

The hinge support illustrated herein comprises generally a memberadapted to be mounted on the side wall 10 of the cabinet,

,another member adaptedto be mounted on the fall-board 12, and two linksadapted to be attached to the fall-board and body of the cabinet bybeing'pivoted to one of the members and to the other-link andslidablyconnected with the other member. V T In the present instance a member14, comprising afiat strip of metal, is adaptedto be 15. On the rearedgeof the memberl i and adjacent the upper end thereof a portion ofthemetal is bent inwardly and thenforwardr secured to the inner surfaceof the side wall 10 1n a vertical position by means of screws ly to forma channel-shaped lug 25' andf'fla 7 vertical slot 24 is cut thereinfisecond member 16, comprising a fiat stripof metal, is adapted to besecured'to the inner surface of the fall-board 12 by means of screws 17I with its inner end adjacent the fall-board axis and extendingoutwardly at right angles therefrom. Two lugs 21 and 33 are formed onthe inner and outer ends respectively by bending a portion of metal onthe outer edge of the member 16 upwardly, the lug 21 being provided witha pin 22 and the lug 33 with a pin 32. i

As mentioned above, my invention includes two links. One of these, thelink 20, is provided with a pin 23 in its upper end which pin slides inthe slot 24 cut in the lug 25, on the first member 14. The link 20extends downwardly therefrom and has means for pivotally connecting itslower end to the .fallboard adjacent the inner edge thereof. In thepresent instance this means comprises the pin 22 on the lug 21' on theinner end of the member 16. A second'link 26 is pivotally connected atits inner end by means of a pin 27 to the side wall adjacent thefall-board axis, the pin 27 in the present instance being mounted on thelower end of the first member 14, and extends outwardly along thefall-board. Adjacent the outer end of the link 26 a longitudinal slot 31is cut in which the pin 32 on the lug 33, formed on the outer end of thesecond member 16, slides. The two links 20 and 26 are pivotallyconnected together near the lower. end of the first link 20 and theinner end of the second link 26 by means of a pin 30.

Vhen the fall-board is open, as shown in Fig. 1, the arrangement of thepivots is such that the fall-board is in a horizontal position flushwith the floor of the cabinet. The pin 23 of the first link 20 islimited against further downward movement by the lower end of the slot24:, and the pin 32 on the lug 33 is at the outer end of the slot 31 inthe link 26, thus limiting further outward movement of the pin 32 causedby a downward movement of the fall-board 12. The link 26 further limitsthe opening of fall-board when the slots wear by having its lower sidearranged to abut the second member 16.

It is to be noted that pins 22, 27 and 30 form an equilateralparallelogram with the fall-board axis, and that pins 27, 22 and 32 arehorizontally aligned when the fall-board is open.

When the fall-board is closed, as is shown in Fig. 3, the two links 20and 26 fold together within the ChanneLshaped lug 25 with the link 26lying between the link 20 and the first member 14. Also the pin 22 movesto a position coaxial with the pin 27.

It is apparent that I have provided a new and improved hinge support forthe fallboard ofa cabinet in which the fall-board pivots about an axislying along the upper front edge ofthefioor of the cabinet. It is alsoapparent that the parts of my hinge are adapted to be mounted on thesurface of the side-wall body of the desk and is slidably connected atits outer end to the fall-board whereby the link extends horizontallyalong the fallboard when the latter is in fully open position,the'second link pivoted at its lower end to the rear portion of thefirst link and to the inner portion of the fall-board respectively, thesecond link being slidably connected at its upper end to the desk body,the pivots and sliding connections for said links being so arranged thatthe fall-board may swing about an axis that will maintain the upper rearedge of the open fall-board inclose proximity to the upper forward edgeof the floor of the desk in all positions of the swinging movement ofthe fall-board, and the sliding connections being limited in the extentof their movement so that the fall-board will be prevented from swingingbelow a substantially horizontal plane.

2. A hinge support for mounting the fallboard of a desk or like articleof furniture comprising, in combination, a pair of links, one of whichis pivoted at its inner end to the body of the desk and is slidablyconnected at its outer end to the fall-board whereby the link extendshorizontally along the fallboard when the latter is in fully openposition, the second link being pivoted at its lower end to the rearportion of the first link and to the inner portion of the'fall-board re-'5 spectively, the second link being slidably connected at its upper endto the desk body, the pivots for said links being closely adjacent therear edge of the upper surface of the fallboard to insure a movement ofthe fall-board about an axis substantially coincident with said rearedge.

3. A hinge support for the fall-board of a cabinet comprising, incombination, a first member adapted to be secured in a vertical positionto the inner surface of the side wall of the cabinet adjacent the frontedge thereof and comprising a flat strip of metal having a lug formingachannel with said strip, a second member adapted to be mounted on theupper surface of the fall-board adjacent the side edge thereof andcomprising a flat strip of metal having a pair of relatively small lugsbent upwardly from the outer edge of said strip adjacent the res pcctiveends thereof, and a pair of links pivoted to each other, one of saidlinks being pivotally attached to the lug and the inner endof the secondmember and slidably attached to the lug on the first member, the otherof said 1,sss,351

links being pivotally attached to the lower end of the first member andslidably attached to the lug on the outer end of said second member,said links comprising fiat strips of metal which lie in substantiallyparallel planes and interfold in a compact arrangement within thechannel of the first member when the fall-board is closed, and which lieclose to and substantially along the respective member when thefall-board is open.

4. A hinge sup-port for the fall-board of a cabinet comprising, incombination, a pair of members constructed to be secured to the innersurface of the side wall of the cabinet and to the upper surface of thefall-board respectively, and a pair of links pivoted to each other, eachlink being pivoted to one of said members and slidably attached to theother of said members, said membersand said links comprising relativelylong narrow fiat strips of metal, said cabinet member and said linksinterfolding with each other in a parallel arrangement when thefall-board is closed to occupy a space defined by the length of thelongest strip, the width of the widest strip, and a depth substantiallyequal to the sum of their thicknesses, with the body member lyingclosely along said space.

5. A hinge support for the fall-board of a cabinet comprising, incombination, a pair of members and a pair of links, each of said linksbeing pivotally attached to one of said members and to the other linkand slidably attached to the other member, one of said members beingconstructed to be secured in a vertical position to the inner surface ofthe side wall of the cabinet adjacent the front edge thereof, and theother of said members being constructed to be secured to the uppersurface of the fall-board along the side edge thereof, said members andsaid links folding into a non-divergent and compact arrangement withinthe cabinet and occupying a relatively small space adjacent to thecorner formed by the side wall and fall-board when the latter is closed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

GEDOR W. ALDEEN.

